Repairs nearly complete on I-40 overpass in NLR

Thursday

May 9, 2013 at 9:29 AM

Highway department spokesman Danny Straessle says work will soon be complete on the Young Road overpass. Crews plan to install a new guardrail and remove a concrete barrier used to protect workers from traffic.

Associated Press

Highway crews are wrapping up repairs on an Interstate 40 overpass that was heavily damaged two months ago after a tractor-trailer crashed and caught fire.

Highway department spokesman Danny Straessle says work will soon be complete on the Young Road overpass. Crews plan to install a new guardrail and remove a concrete barrier used to protect workers from traffic.

Arkansas State Police estimate that the March 7 crash and fire caused $200,000 in damage to the overpass in North Little Rock.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/10Il3Uf ) that troopers still don't know why Ahmed Salahuddin veered from the middle lane and crashed into a guardrail. The crash ruptured a fuel tank on the truck, sparking a large fire and several explosions.